First India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development to come up in Malawi

India has decided to set up India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa. In this regard Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Consultancy Service (NABCONS). It will be the first of its kind institute developed in an African country by India.

India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD):

It will be pan-African Institute wherein trainees from Malawi and other African countries will be trained to develop their human resources and build their capacity.

It is being set up part of India’s efforts to enhance capacity in the areas of agro-financing and entrepreneurship development for African countries.

It will develop training programmes in areas of micro-financing and agro-financing, among others.

The entire expenditure of training course expenses for students from other African countries and travelling and logistics of faculty from India will be borne by Indian Government for initial period of three years.

It will help to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Malawi and that of India’s relations with African Union (AU).